THE ABSENT

CRIPPLED HEARTS

SOLIDARITY WITH THE FLESH EATING MOSAIC AND OTHER POEMS by Raj Dronamraju

Out Now

THE RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT NINNY AND OTHER POEMS by Raj Dronamraju

My first book of poetry available through Amazon and other online booksellers www.rajbooks.com

Saturday, December 6, 2014

A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE MURDER OF MICHAEL BROWN

I have held off commenting on
the Michael Brown verdict because I wanted to read the grand jury testimony for
myself which I finally did.

Here are some problems and overall
thoughts that I have....

1.) How far was Darren Wilson when he shot Brown? Originally the police said 35 feet. Subsequent investigation shows that Brown was
148 feet away from Wilson when he was shot.

2.) By his own testimony,
Wilson chose not to have non-lethal means of subduing a suspect in his car – He
did not like to carry a taser because it was “too bulky” and pepper spray was
out of reach he said when Brown reached through the car window . So the only way to subdue a suspect is deadly
force? Wilson partly blamed his police
department for this – Is this normal police procedure?

3.) Brown was shot nine
times. In addition, at least one bullet
was dug out of the wall of a nearby house.
How many times did Darren Wilson fire his gun? Was this absolutely necessary?

4.) Aside from dehumanizing
Brown by calling him “it” and “a demon”, Wilson in his testimony said over and
over again how Brown was a big man, 6’4.
What he left out was while Wilson is about 40 pounds lighter, they are
the exact same height! Both are 6’4!

5.) We were told Wilson had
severe injuries because of Brown. This
was information supposedly leaked by Ferguson PD. None of that was true. Wilson had red marks on his face with no
swelling which could have been the result of other things. Also scratches on
his neck? According to released medical
info, Wilson suffers from Eczema (as do I) the photos on Gawker look more like
that.

6.) Brown’s friend, Dorian
Johnson, testified Wilson used obscene language and was rude and confrontational
from the get go. This jibes with at
least two other people living in the same community who came forward with past
Officer Wilson stories. Remember Officer
Wilson did not know about them as suspects in the store robbery at that time at
the time he initiated the confrontation.

7.) Officer Wilson originally
stopped because they were walking in the middle of the street. Apparently, according to witnesses, so were a
number of other people. It’s a small
road not a freeway. Why did Officer
Wilson just single out these two?

8.) Regarding the store
robbery, many unanswered questions – I looked at it again and the full security
video shows money being placed on the counter for the cigars. The altercation between Brown and the storekeeper
seems to occur because of something else – Brown reaching over the counter or
something the storekeeper says. In his
testimony, Dorian Johnson says while he did not see Brown pay for the cigars,
there was some conflict which he didn’t fully grasp (or he was he told to say
this in exchange for not being charged with marijuana possession – I
think the fix was in from the start)

9.) The storekeeper did not
call the police when Brown supposedly stole the cigars. He was very quick to say this. Unfortunately, and I saw this when I lived in
Los Angeles with Korean shopkeepers, immigrants who come over to the US
sometimes absorb pre-existing prejudices against African Americans. The newsmedia has not covered this story but
this guy did have some confrontations with locals in the past.

10.) The behavior of the
prosecutor Bob McCulloch was shameful from his past ties to police
organizations (through his family) and prior defense of police brutality to how
he presented information to grand jury attacking Brown and not contradicting
Wilson when he spoke or properly cross examining him to the victim blaming
psychotic news conference immediately following the verdict(Where he basically
said Wilson was innocent – I’ve never heard a prosecutor do that before) to how he released information. I think the federal government should
investigate his behavior

11.) Darren Wilson was paid
$500,000 for his interview with George Stephanopolous. In addition, more than a million dollars were
raised on his behalf. I hope Michael
Brown’s family sues him in civil court.